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Canola oil is a common ingredient to see in a variety of food products. It is often found in dressings, frozen foods, breads, cookies, fried foods, and snacks.
More health experts are finding that healthy fats are actually good for your body, but did you stop to consider whether this oil falls into that category?
Now, if you would like to continue to eat your sweet potato chips covered in canola oil in blissful ignorance… I would stop reading now.
But, if you would like to know the truth about this supposedly healthy oil, kiss your canola oil covered snacks goodbye and keep reading…
First, what exactly is canola oil?
The canola plant was created in the 1970s by scientists employed by rapeseed oil companies who needed an alternative after the FDA banned rapeseed oil. The results seemed successful as the new and improved oil was low in the unhealthy erucic acid that the FDA did not approve of. This is what we now call canola oil.
At the time this new oil was created, saturated fats were considered very bad, making canola oil (which is low in saturated fats) quite the popular “healthy” oil.
However, there is a dark side to this oil, and it can have many harmful results, including contributing to inflammation, Alzheimer and memory loss, asthma, cellulite, and even heart disease.
Let’s take a look at some of the problems with canola oil…
Overly Processed and Lacking Nutrition
The majority of canola oil you find in the grocery store is heavily refined. Unfortunately, through this process the oil loses much of its nutrients, including essential fatty acids, antioxidants, and vitamins.
This leaves the oil very lacking in nutritional value. In fact, other than a little bit of vitamin E and vitamin K (12% of daily value in 1 Tb.), there is no other vitamins and minerals to boast of.
Trans Fats
Canola oil is also processed with a chemical called hexane. This is how the oil is extracted, but through this process, higher levels of oxidation and trans fats are produced.
It depends on the oil, but canola oil can contain up to 4.2% of trans fat, although it often contains less.
When canola is hydrogenated (often for margarine or shortening), or even partially hydrogenated, it creates more trans fats.
Artificial trans fats are linked to heart disease and banned in some countries. Even small amounts of trans fat raise bad cholesterol (LDL) and lower good cholesterol (HDL).
In fact, even in small amounts artificial trans fats are so harmful that the World Health Organization has called for all artificial trans fats to be banned from foods by 2023.
GMO and Pesticides
In 1995, big agricultural corporation Monsanto had canola plants bio-engineered to withstand glyphosate, the main ingredient in it’s weed killer.
Today, over 90% of the canola crops grown in the United States are genetically engineered.
This means that, not only are the crops canola oil is made from genetically modified which comes with a host of concerns, but they are also being sprayed with harmful pesticide glyphosate.
Glyphosate is known to contribute to health issues, including cancer and disrupting hormones. If you’d like to read more about the effects of this pesticide, check out my post on Cheerios and Glyphosate.
Inflammation
Another issue with canola oil is that it has a lot of omega-6s. Now, this is not a bad thing in itself, as the body needs omega-6 to perform proper functions and be healthy.
However, the diet of the average American is extremely high in omega-6s, as these are often found in refined foods, and low in omega-3s which are found in whole foods. This causes an unhealthy imbalance in the body that leads to inflammation.
Canola oil by itself actually has a ratio of 2:1 of omega-6s to omega-3s. This really isn’t too bad. But the problem is that canola oil is put in so many things! It feels like everything sometimes!
A healthy balance of omega-6s to omega-3s is 1:1. Sadly the average American diet is around 15:1!
This means all those foods that you eat with canola oil are just contributing more and more to the imbalance and causing more inflammation in your body.
A high omega-6 imbalance is also linked to obesity, Alzheimers, and heart disease.
Potential Health Risks
The average American consumes 36 pounds of cooking oils per year. Pew Research found that, “Most of the fats we consume are in the form of vegetable oils: soybean, corn, canola and other oils used as ingredients and in which foods are cooked.”
People are consuming far too much of oils that are not nutritious, instead of having healthy, quality fats. This results in a number of health issues…
“Somewhere between 30% and 50%, maybe even 60% of the average American’s diet is composed of (soy and canola) vegetable oils. The average American now is composed of far more polyunsaturated fat than ever before in history.”
Cate Shanahan, MD, author of “Deep Nutrition”
Cellulite
Another one of the problems that arises from over consumption of these vegetable oils is cellulite. When your body is composed of fat that is more inflammatory and more liquid, one of the results is cellulite. The inflammation that is caused erodes away the top layer of collagen supporting your skin, which can lead to cellulite and skin problems.
Alzheimers
Canola oil has been shown to have negative effects on brain health and weight management. A study was done on the health effects of canola oil with two groups of mice over a six month period.
The mice that were given canola oil daily showed significant decline in working memory and a decrease in synaptic integrity.
The study determined that canola oil had harmful effects on health and concluded:
“Taken together, our findings do not support a beneficial effect of chronic canola oil consumption on two important aspects of AD (Alzheimers disease) pathophysiology which includes memory impairments as well as synaptic integrity.”
Their study found that canola oil did not have good effects on memory and nervous system function!
One of the things that is often touted as a health benefit of canola oil is that it lacks saturated fats. However, healthy saturated fats are actually good brain fuel. One study even showed that those who ate more saturated fats reduced their risk of developing dementia.
Weight Gain
In the same study, the mice that were exposed to a canola rich diet also showed a significant increase in body weight.
Asthma and Lung Inflammation
In a study conducted by Northwestern Medicine, the type of vitamin E found in canola, soybean, and corn oils was tied to the rising of lung inflammation and even maybe asthma.
There are two forms of Vitamin E. The first one, called gamma-tocopherol, is found in corn, soybean, and canola oils. The study found that this type was associated with decreased lung function. The second form of Vitamin E is alpha-tocopherol, which is found in olive oil and sunflower oils, is associated with better lung function.
In the last 40 years, the rates of asthma in the U.S. have been going up. This correlates with the switch in diets in the U.S. from butter and lard to supposed “healthier” oils – soybean, canola, and corn oils.
Coincidence? Possibly…
However, in her research, Cook- Mills found that, “People in countries that consume olive and sunflower oil have the lowest rate of asthma and those that consume soybean, corn and canola oil have the highest rate of asthma.”
Her research also found that a high level of gamma-tocoperol was associated with a 10 to 17 percent reduction in lung function. The average level of gamma-tocopherol in blood plasma in the U.S. is 4 or more times higher compared to European countries that mostly consume sunflower and olive oil.
And in case you don’t know how bad reduced lung function is, Cook Mills puts it this way:
A 10 percent reduction in lung function is like an asthmatic condition. People have more trouble breathing. They take in less air, and it’s harder to expel. Their lungs have reduced capacity.
So, particularly if you are prone to asthma, I would definitely consider cutting down on the canola oil consumption…
Ditch Canola Oil for Healthier Sources of Fat
The average American diet is full of way too much vegetable oils. While Canola oil is praised as a healthy oil, research definitely shows there is some reasons to be concerned.
Canola oil is put into all kinds of products that we eat everyday. Just take a look at the ingredient lists of some of the products you have in your house right now.
Consuming this oil in such proportions is not only not good for you, but it could be causing inflammation in your body and harming your health.
There are far superior options for oils such as grass-fed butter, ghee, extra-virgin olive oil, and coconut oil. Keep in mind, olive oil should not be cooked on high heat as it destroys some of the nutritional value.
It is also good to seek healthy fats in your diet from whole foods like nuts, salmon, olives, avocados, and other sources. Most people consume too much fat from processed vegetable oils like canola oil, which is not benefiting their health.
Why choose a sub-par oil when you can give your body and your brain more beneficial fuel?
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